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 "We're such a fast race car, such a great team," Logano said. "We've
showed it two weeks in a row now and this is a lot of fun. We've
just got to ride this wave and we've got to ret to Homestead,
still."
Denny Hamlin finished second and Jimmie Johnson third while Kasey
Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
"It was an interesting day, for sure," Hamlin said. "We definitely
fought our car early today. Just couldn't do anything and battled
back our track position. It's so hard to pass; we just fought the
car and made it better and had some good restarts. The pit crew
picked us up a few spots and next thing you know, we are trying to
battle for a win. It was a great day for our FedEx Express Camry."
Matt Kenseth wound up 14th leading a race-high 153 laps because of a
spin after contact with Logano while leading.
"It was just hard racing," Logano said. "He raced me really hard. I
raced him he same way he raced me. It was a lot of fun out there
racing for a win like that. The cars were very fast, equally paired,
and I couldn't be more proud of what this Shel/Pennzoil team is
doing right now."
Kenseth's viewpoint wasn't quite so positive.
"He (Logano) just plain wrecked me," Kenseth said. "He cries on his
radio a lot, I guess, about blocking or moving around, but man,
you're leading the race and you can pick whatever lane you want.
It's not like he was alongside of me. To wreck somebody for being in
a lane that you wanted to be in seems kind of risky and not very
smart. That was a decision he made."
Logano, with a push from Kevin Harvick, took the lead from Kenseth
on a restart on lap 179, but after battling back and forth for
several laps, Kenseth retook command of the top spot on lap 196.
Kenseth gave up the lead to pit during a cycle of pit stops on lap
214, but was back up front once the cycle of stops was completed.
Fellow Chasers Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick each had troublesome
stops during the only green-flag trips to pit road during the race.
Truex was penalized for a tire getting away from his team, while
Harvick was penalized for taking equipment out of his pit stall.
Harvick also struggled with a broken shifter handle that he threw
out his window during his green-flag stop.
[to top of second column] |
Justin Allgaier brought out the sixth caution of the race with less
than 30 laps to go. Jimmie Johnson stayed out to inherit the lead,
but Kenseth and Logano restarted second and third after pitting.
When the race restarted with 20 laps to go, Kenseth and Logano
retook the top two spots.
Brad Keselowski and Harvick each led laps early before Logano took
the lead on four new tires on lap 50.
When the yellow flag waved on lap 64, Kenseth took four tires and
restarted fifth. Taking advantage of all new tires, he was able to
take the lead for the first time on lap 72.
NOTES: Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch
combined to lead the entire NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas
Speedway on Saturday. Busch won after leading 56 laps, while Kenseth
led 148 laps and finished second. Joey Logano completed a top-three
Sprint Cup sweep of the Xfinity race by finishing third. ...
Although he won the pole, Brad Keselowski didn't have first pick in
pit selection. Because of penalties from the Charlotte Motor
Speedway race weekend, he and Tony Stewart made their pit selections
last and second to last at Kansas. ... Logano won last year's
Hollywood Casino 400. Jimmie Johnson won at Kansas earlier this
season. ... Kevin Harvick finished first or second in three of the
last four Kansas races before Sunday's race. ... Jeff Gordon won the
first two races at Kansas in 2001 and 2002. Sunday's race was
Gordon's last at the track. ... Gordon and Jimmie Johnson came to
Kansas as the track's winningest drivers with three wins apiece.
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